Comments

This article is ridiculous. Since when is Glee a show for 11 year olds? It focuses on high school kids losing their virginity, dealing with issues of homosexuality and bullying. The music used in the show alone is unfit for 11 year olds. Sisquo, Cee Lo, Madonna?? Maybe parents should take more responsibility and start teaching kids whats right from wrong on their own instead of expecting a FOX tv show to do the job for them.
The actress on the cover is just that.. AN ACTRESS. She has zero responsibility to teach kids anything. That's a parents job. Start doing it.

You are absolutely right. We need more parents like you. Parents should guide their kids and be their watchdogs. Unfortunately, as you are well aware many, many parents just don't do this. They allow the TV to be the babysitter and this article reflects this in a way. The mom of the 13 yo will hopefully drop Glee from her child's list of allowed TV shows after she reads this article.
As for my viewpoint — which was heavily edited — was trying to say that it's contradictory how adults who play the role of minors on TV and movies should be equally attacked like when minors try to act/role play like adults i.e. Miley Cyrus. The influence both of these scenarios have on their respective young-adult audiences is undeniable.

Well I agree that 11 year olds should not be watching this show. I do watch with my 13 year old son, but even he has is slowly loosing interest as the content of the show becomes more and more adult. I am not offended by the Cosmo cover as she is an actress in her 20's. Check the TV ratings parents and leave the Cosmo on the supermarket shelf, there are better things to spend your money on.

I really do not think it is always the parents having the TV be the babysitter, but, I think many watch the show with their kids, as they might other rated PG or R shows, and approve of it. Perhaps parents feel that 14-17 year-olds loosing their virginity is inevitable/perfectly healthy, and they are permissive about it (and I do think Glee celebrates & glamorizes the sexuality of minors). The parents' attitude is what is most influential, I think, even more than TV shows and pop music. If the mom, for example belts out KP's song w/her pre-teen, “Let's go All the Way Tonight,” like Glee does, (they played that song at my girl's elementary school dance, too, btw)… well there is the real influence – there is the true endorsement. Glee might be the modern day version of Grease, which had overtones, as well, so this is not new, just the bar has been raised. Our pop culture is simply becoming racier and more accepting of depicting sexually titillating children and/or portraying them and calling that hawt. I think the industry tends to take the “I am not meant to be your role model” approach. Lusting after high school-aged kids or depicting minors as sexually expressive beings is the issue, for sure, and how it is addressed by TV like 90210, MTV, etc…will usually adhere to a “SEX SELLS” attitude. So will the magazines, clothes, music, etc… And who buys this stuff for the kids? Parents – the ultimate influencers. The same shows/stars that are marketed to kids will use their magic to tantalize adults, too. Part genius, part perversion.

Spot on, Mamared! We parents need to parent. It would be helpful if mass meadia didn't target our kids as much these days, too. Understanably, Cosmo is for adults, and Glee should be for much older adolecents (17-18). However, the allure of a musical TV drama based in a high school setting with adults impersonating teenagers can be misleading to the many (adults and teens alike) who have been brought up with the media's pervasive messgage about how much sex and risque images are acceptable. Parents just have to step up the guidance.

Great points! At the end of the day, there needs to be more balance in our celebrity-driven society. We need that counterbalance and there aren't enough people looking out for the young ones who are the largest consumers of pop-culture. Why is the scale tipping so far in one direction and not more towards the center? I think it's the parents and/or any adults concerned with all the crap on TV, Movies, magazines, etc overwhelming our pop-culture who need to step in and pull their kids away from it. It'd ve great if the entertainmnet industry and the media would also back off a tad with the overuse of kids as sex sellers and consumers.

Lea Michele is a 24 year old actress who is entitled to manage her life and her career. If we have issues with the way she is dressed because our children may think she is underage, we need to discuss reality and TV with our children. It's another opportunity to point out what is real and what is make-believe and help our children navigate this aspect of life. I see middle school and high school age girls dress provocatively often, now and as far back as I can remember. It's a great part of our nation, the right to express ourselves through our garments. It's a great freedom, one that comes with the individual responsiblity of self-control. Help your children understand and develop their own values and self-worth. To understand that they have a choice in how they present themselves to the world everyday.

Beautifully said, Tam! It would be great of our society as whole recognized this great freedom which comes with responsibilty. Many don't, and that's the reason you see the girls you mention dressed precisely as they shouldn't; neither themselves nor the parents who let them walk out the door looking like street-walkers can tell the difference because media has had hand in influencing them that these looks are Okay for minors.
Lea Michele is a beautiful and talented young woman whose past I wish was highlited more — she did not do drugs or drink, and was dedicated to her craft from avery young age — as a role model as well.

Ok, so your problem is that LEA (not as Rachel Berry, but as herself) appears on the cover of AN ADULT ORIENTED magazine wearing a perfectly normal low cut top. HELL WILL FREEZE!! Please, if you are sooooooo worried about your impressionable teen seeing this, then DON'T BUY THE MAGAZINE! Why is it so hard for people to understand/accept a woman's sexuality and the fact that she has no problem expressing it?! She's 24 for crying out loud!
Maybe you should pay closer attention to what your kid(s) watch, and let other parents decide what is appropriate for our own kids to watch, instead of blowing things out of proportion like you're doing.
This is 2011 people, not 1911 where a woman was not allowed to show any skin. Grow up and get used to the fact that women now have the power and right of deciding what to do with their own body.
It's simple, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T LOOK!

First, I am NOT the mother of the 13 year old in this article. I have older children. Second, I DO NOT have any problem with Lea Michele dressing like an adult in an adult magazine. I DIDN'T WRITE THIS ARTICLE. The Fox reporter came up with her own story about Lea Michele's cover on Cosmo and reached out for opinions about the previous GQ cover and this one. I supported her thinking in that it's contradictory to view clean cut TV personalities sex it up in the media, and it was irresponsible to dress like that in the GQ cover. The rest of the Cosmo cover being 'blown it out of proportion' is the result of very good spin by the reporter's article – not mine – and the rest of the Hollywood-gossip mill. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.

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